virt-format(1)						      Virtualization Support						    virt-format(1)

NAME

       virt-format - Erase and make a blank disk

SYNOPSIS

	virt-format [--options] -a disk.img [-a disk.img ...]

DESCRIPTION

       Virt-format takes an existing disk file (or it can be a host partition, LV etc), erases all data on it, and formats it as a blank disk.	It
       can optionally create partition tables, empty filesystems, logical volumes and more.

       To create a disk containing data, you may be better to use virt-make-fs(1).  If you are creating a blank disk to use in guestfish(1), you
       should instead use the guestfish -N option.

       Normal usage would be something like this:

	virt-format -a disk.qcow

       or this:

	virt-format -a /dev/VG/LV

       "disk.qcow" or "/dev/VG/LV" must exist already.	Any data on these disks will be erased by these commands.  These commands will create a
       single empty partition covering the whole disk, with no filesystem inside it.

       Additional parameters can be used to control the creation of partitions, filesystems, etc.  The most commonly used options are:

       --filesystem=[ext3|ntfs|vfat|...]
	   Create an empty filesystem ("ext3", "ntfs" etc) inside the partition.

       --lvm[=/dev/VG/LV]
	   Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume on the disk.  When used with --filesystem, the filesystem is created inside the LV.

       For more information about these and other options, see "OPTIONS" below.

       The format of the disk is normally auto-detected, but you can also force it by using the --format option (q.v.).  In situations where you
       do not trust the existing content of the disk, then it is advisable to use this option to avoid possible exploits.

OPTIONS

       --help
	   Display brief help.

       -a file
       --add file
	   Add file, a disk image, host partition, LV, external USB disk, etc.

	   The format of the disk image is auto-detected.  To override this and force a particular format use the --format=.. option.

	   Any existing data on the disk is erased.

       --filesystem=ext3|ntfs|vfat|...
	   Create an empty filesystem of the specified type.  Many filesystem types are supported by libguestfs.

       --filesystem=none
	   Create no filesystem.  This is the default.

       --format=raw|qcow2|..
       --format
	   The default for the -a option is to auto-detect the format of the disk image.  Using this forces the disk format for -a options which
	   follow on the command line.	Using --format with no argument switches back to auto-detection for subsequent -a options.

	   For example:

	    virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img

	   forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img".

	    virt-format --format=raw -a disk.img --format -a another.img

	   forces raw format (no auto-detection) for "disk.img" and reverts to auto-detection for "another.img".

	   If you have untrusted raw-format guest disk images, you should use this option to specify the disk format.  This avoids a possible
	   security problem with malicious guests (CVE-2010-3851).

       --lvm=/dev/VG/LV
	   Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume called "/dev/VG/LV".  You can change the name of the volume group and logical volume.

       --lvm
	   Create a Linux LVM2 logical volume with the default name ("/dev/VG/LV").

       --lvm=none
	   Create no logical volume.  This is the default.

       --partition
	   Create either an MBR or GPT partition covering the whole disk.  MBR is chosen if the disk size is < 2 TB, GPT if >= 2 TB.

	   This is the default.

       --partition=gpt
	   Create a GPT partition.

       --partition=mbr
	   Create an MBR partition.

       --partition=none
	   Create no partition table.  Note that Windows may not be able to see these disks.

       -v
       --verbose
	   Enable verbose messages for debugging.

       -V
       --version
	   Display version number and exit.

       --wipe
	   Normally virt-format does not wipe data from the disk (because that takes a long time).  Thus if there is data on the disk, it is only
	   hidden and partially overwritten by virt-format, and it might be recovered by disk editing tools.

	   If you use this option, virt-format writes zeroes over the whole disk so that previous data is not recoverable.

       -x  Enable tracing of libguestfs API calls.

EXIT STATUS

       This program returns 0 on success, or 1 on failure.

SEE ALSO

       guestfs(3), guestfish(1), virt-filesystems(1), virt-make-fs(1), virt-rescue(1), virt-resize(1), <http://libguestfs.org/>.

AUTHOR

       Richard W.M. Jones <http://people.redhat.com/~rjones/>

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (C) 2012 Red Hat Inc.

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
       the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
       MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
       Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

libguestfs-1.18.1						    2013-12-07							    virt-format(1)